Merge With Caution
by Drachesoul
Summary: A powerful Fae artifact is stolen from the Dal Riata and used to murder a young Fae woman. Bo and the others are sent out to retrieve it and bring the killer to justice. What they don't expect is another team trying to beat them to the artifact... Lost Girl/Warehouse 13 crossover. Established Doccubus and Bering/Wells.
1. Chapter 1

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**Alberta, Canada **

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The air was unusually warm on the night everything began, and throngs of Fae-folk had come through the Dal Riata looking for great alcohol and a good time. Trick stood at the bar, serving drinks and cleaning out glasses while he watched the happenings going on.

A pack of wolf-shifters sat at one of the booths, laughing loudly and deciding where to host their next run. Assembled at the table next to them was the local group of kitsune, disguised as bouncy college-aged girls. Really, if one wasn't privy to the secret they all shared, a passerby wouldn't be able to tell that they were more than human.

Truth be told, Trick was happy that his Fae bar seemed to be doing so well, even if it meant he didn't get a moment's rest. Maybe he should have taken Kenzi's offer to help him with serving. He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. Having Kenzi anywhere near this much alcohol without supervision would be a bad thing.

Over at the pool tables, his long-time friend and wolf-shifter Dyson skillfully shot the eight-ball into a side pocket, earning him a sigh and twenty dollars from his opponent, a woman named Tamsin.

"Damn, beat again," she complained, "I don't know why I keep challenging you, dog-boy."

"I'd blame it on the alcohol," Dyson grinned, "Unless you want to admit that you're a really terrible pool player."

"Never!" Tamsin glared, grabbing a shot from a waitress that walked by, downing it in a single gulp. "Another game?"

"Provided you're paying for the next round of drinks."

She seemed to consider this for a moment, "Done."

Trick was engrossed with his duties as barkeep and didn't notice as someone approached the glass case that housed all of his important treasures. Not that he would've minded if someone was looking at his collection. He took an unusual amount of pride in his artifacts and relished the thought of showing them off.

He also didn't see the person unlock the case with one swift move and swipe a velvet-lined box. The thief slipped the box into a coat pocket, relocked the case and walked out of the Dal Riata without attracting any attention.

Trick probably wouldn't have discovered the theft for a few days if the next morning's newspapers hadn't all flashed the same headline. "Young woman found brutally strangled in her own home, leaves authorities baffled." What the papers didn't know was that the victim, a young woman by the name of Iris Conner, wasn't even a human. She was a Fae.

The Fae community was rattled to say the least. Both Light and Dark vehemently denied any involvement, choosing instead to blame the other side for the atrocious deed. Trick knew that there was only one group that could be trusted to catch the killer and return the stolen artifact.

"Bo? Could you grab Kenzi and Lauren and meet Dyson, Tamsin and Hale down at the station? We have a murderer to catch."

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**Univille, South Dakota**

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"Myka," Pete Lattimer whispered, tiptoeing into his partner's room. He knew that she would kill him for waking her up this early, but Artie had called about a potential ping and they needed to get down to the warehouse as soon as possible. "Myka!"

A vaguely human-shaped lump stirred in response to his call. Sneaking stealthily up to the bedside, he tried to shake her awake. "Come on, Mykes, we have a job."

Pete sighed, and knowing that we would later regret it, raised his hand and smacked the bed with all of his might. Two things then happened. The lump squeaked in indignation and the door leading to the adjacent bathroom swung open with a loud bang. Myka bounded out of the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas and holding her toothbrush in one hand.

"Pete! What the hell are you doing in my room?" She crossed her arms, looking at him for an explanation.

"Wait, if you're there then who's this?" Pete looked extremely confused.

Myka's eyes widened and she stuttered, "No one. Why would anyone be there?" She made to push her partner out of her room but it was too late.

The pile of sheets and pillows moved and the head of H.G. Wells popped out, "Darling, is it time to get up already?" she yawned.

"WHOA!" Pete gasped, his brain finally putting the pieces together. "I did _not_ see that one coming. Ah, sorry guys, I'll just…."

"Helena, I do believe that we have just rendered Pete Lattimer speechless," Myka chuckled, enjoying the embarrassed look on her partner's face.

"A rare sight indeed," H.G. agreed. "But what's this about a ping? Did Artie find an artifact?"

"Yeah, he said to meet him at the warehouse ASAP. All of us, including Claudia and Jinks. He seemed kind of worried, now that I think about it."

Myka frowned, "It's gotta be something big then. All right, give us fifteen minutes and we'll meet you in the car." And with a single gesture, she shooed Pete out of her room. The door slammed shut behind him.

"Bering and Wells are sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…" he sung under his breath, heading back to his own room to grab his Tesla gun and Farnsworth.

"I heard that!" Myka snapped.

XXX

Meanwhile, downstairs, Steve Jinks was making breakfast. Claudia had woken him up that morning by planting a tiny exploding bug in his alarm clock. Instead of waking up to some soothing nature sounds, his morning had literally started off with a bang. Claudia apologized and said that she would buy him a new clock, but judging by the huge grin on her face, she wasn't even sorry about destroying his old one.

"Breakfast is served!" He called, setting down the last of the dishes and waiting for the feeding frenzy to begin. As usual, Pete Lattimer was the first one to slide into the kitchen, grabbing a plate and piling it high with eggs and toast.

Claudia filed in behind him, speculating about what kind of artifact they'd be hunting and mentioning the need to take a trip to the nearest hardware store. Leena walked in from the garden, followed closely by Trailer the dog, who sat patiently by his food bowl, tail wagging expectantly.

"Here you go, Trai," Steve said, pouring a cup of dry kibble into the dish and rubbing the dog's ears. "Can't forget you, can I?"

"Where's Myka?" Claudia mentioned casually, "I only ask because usually she's here trying to steal the last piece of bacon, speaking of which…" she paused as if she expected her friend to come barreling down the stairs. Hearing nothing, she chuckled, swiping the last slice of bacon off the serving plate.

Pete snorted, downing his glass of orange juice in one gulp. "She's probably still trying to find her clothes. Did you know that her and H.G. were, you know, doin' it?"

"Well, yeah," Claudia responded dryly. "It was rather obvious. Wait, you didn't know?"

Pete's face fell, "Hold on, did everybody know that they were more than friends?" He was met with multiple nods of confirmation. Even Trailer barked in affirmation. "Really? Even the dog?"

"We all thought you knew," Steve placated, pouring himself a cup of coffee and settling down in his chair. "They've been together for a while now."

"Great, now I feel like an idiot," Pete grumbled. Steve patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, upending his mug and draining the last bit of his morning coffee.

"Who's an idiot?" Helena made her way down the staircase, walking hand-in-hand with Myka.

"Pete," everyone chorused.

Helena smiled, "Ah. Are we ready to go? The last thing I want this early in the morning is another lecture from Artie about the importance of being punctual."

"You got that right," Myka muttered, helping Steve start cleaning up the dishes, "Ready, Pete?"

Pete nodded and grabbed his jacket from the coatrack and throwing his car keys to his partner. "We'll see you guys there," he addressed Claudia and Steve from over his shoulder. They waved in return and went back to cleaning up the breakfast table.

"I wonder what artifact Artie's found this morning?" Myka mused as they backed out of the driveway.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good if he's calling for us this early in the morning," H.G. reasoned, stifling a yawn.

"Because usually the worst thing that can happen with an artifact will usually happen," Pete and Myka recited simultaneously.

XXX

**Alberta, Canada**

XXX

By the time the team landed at the airport and set their things up at a hotel, it was early afternoon and everyone was hungry. Steve had stayed back at the hotel to start coming up with potential artifacts. He'd be in constant contact with Leena and Artie back at the Warehouse while his friends went to find food.

"I'm starved, who wants to hit a restaurant?" Pete's stomach growled at the mention of food.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Claudia agreed, looking around at the various buildings, "How about the Dal Riata?" she pointed at a small sign that hung on the wall of the building. "It looks nice enough."

"I'm game, why don't you go inside, see if they're open, and check out their menu," Pete shoved the younger girl toward the front door of the bar.

"Wait, why aren't you going?"

"Because if I smell any kind of food I'm going to eat it, and I'd like to know what it is I'm going to be munching on."

Claudia huffed, "All right, I'll go. Wait here," She pushed open the door to the bar and walked inside. It looked like any other bar and restaurant, with pool tables lining one wall and booths the others. "Hello? Is anyone there?" The entire place seemed to be weirdly empty, and Claudia wondered if they were even open.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to ask for a menu when she felt something hard collide with her head. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a pair of black, heeled boots and a voice muttering in what sounded like Russian.

XXX

Claudia groaned, raising her hand to delicately press against the rapidly-swelling welt on her forehead. All she could think of to mutter was, "Ow…"

"Who the hell are you?" The mysterious girl growled, holding an old umbrella over Claudia's head. She looked to be no more than a few years older than the Warehouse's youngest agent. Startled, Claudia scuttled backwards, reaching for the mini-Tesla she always kept tucked in her waistband. Her hand groped nothing but thin air. "Looking for that?" the girl pointed to the weapon with the butt of her umbrella, "I didn't know what it was and I sure as hell wasn't about to touch it."

A back door suddenly burst open behind her, sending splinters of wood flying in all directions. "Claud? Are you okay?" Pete, Myka and H.G. rushed through the door, guns raised.

The girl jumped back, swinging her umbrella wildly, "You brought friends? Motherfu-"

"Kenzi!" Myka whirled around and was thrown to the floor by a taller woman, whose eyes glowed a mysterious blue color. Try as she might, she couldn't get out from under the other woman. Pete faced a similar situation, his face pressed against the floor, straddled by a man who had a feral glint to his eyes. He snarled, his lips pulling back to reveal a set of sharp, serrated canines.

H.G. had her own Tesla pointed at the head of the woman who had tackled her girlfriend, ready to shoot should the woman so much as breathe wrong. Anyone who threatened her love was going to pay dearly. Triumphant that she had the upper hand, she neglected to notice a blonde woman stealthily sneaking up behind her. Cold metal pressed into her back and she berated herself for not being wary enough.

"If you would please take your sights off my girlfriend, it would be very much appreciated," the blonde asked evenly.

"Provided your girlfriend stops straddling mine, I'll consider the request," she retorted, holstering her Tesla all the same.

"Bo, do you think you could…" With a stiff nod, the woman stood up, her shocking blue eyes starting to fade to a warm, milky brown color.

Myka propped herself up on her elbows and dusting off her clothes, "Thanks. We just wanted to see if this place served lunch, not to start anything! It seems to me that we've all gotten off on the wrong foot."

"Yeah, explaining a kidnapping isn't usually a good conversation starter," Claudia said, her eyes still trained on Kenzi.

"I agree," the confident woman-Bo—added, "My name's Bo, the one with the umbrella is Kenzi, that's my friend Dyson, and that's my girlfriend Lauren," she explained, pointing to each person as she said their names. "Now, we've divulged, so it's your turn."

"I'm Myka Bering, Secret Service."

"I'm her partner, Pete Lattimer, also Secret Service."

"Helena Wells."

"Whoa, are we all just going to ignore that fact that this crazy chick over here knocked me out and tried to threaten me with an umbrella?" Claudia asked, completely dumbstruck by the easy-going attitude her friends were adopting.

Kenzi shrugged, handing Claudia her mini-Tesla back, umbrella still clutched in her hand. "You looked pretty damn suspicious, what was I supposed to think? Now, who are you?"

"Claudia Donovan."

Bo narrowed her eyes, "Back up a second. Secret Service? What are you guys doing here in Canada?"

"Classified business," Myka said slowly, glancing warily at her. "We're looking for whatever killed a young woman in her own home last night."

For the first time, Dyson spoke up, "So are we. What interest does the U.S. Secret Service have in this case?"

"Let's just say that the circumstances surrounding her death seemed more than a little strange, if you catch my drift," Pete replied. "It's kind of our job to investigate the strange."

"Well it seems that we're both looking at the same goal here," H.G. interjected, "What say everyone to working together on this case? I'd much rather that then fighting."

No one objected, and all of the tension flew out of the room, to be replaced by a delicate feeling of trust. "You all said that you're familiar with strange?" The question came from a short man who walked up behind Bo and placed a hand on her arm, "I think we should take them up on their offer, even if they're human. We haven't turned up any leads and maybe they can help us before another Fae is killed."

Bo's expression was wary, but she sighed loudly and nodded. "Would you guys mind helping us out?"

"Only if there's gonna be cookies in it for me," Pete stated seriously.

"Is he serious?"

"Unfortunately."


	2. Chapter 2

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**The Dal Riata**

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"Why do chemists like nitrates?" Lauren sat perched on the end of the stool, staring at H.G. Wells with wide eyes. She couldn't believe that she was actually in the presence of one of the nineteenth century's greatest literary minds.

"Wait, I've heard this one before," H.G. thought, wracking her brains for the punchline to the joke. Her old Warehouse partner had told this to her once. "Because they're cheaper than day rates, right?"

The blonde's eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Yes, finally, there's someone who gets my sense of humor!"

Bo smiled and stirred her drink, happy that her girlfriend had someone to revel in the science talk with. She was rather surprised that their entire group seemed completely unfazed by the fact that they were in the company of the Fae. "So, it looks like my girl has found a kindred spirit," she mentioned to Myka, who sat next to her, a similar look of adoration plastered on her face.

"I for one am glad that I no longer have to pretend that I actually know what Helena is talking about."

"True that. Speaking of kindred spirits, check out Kenzi and Claudia."

The two swiveled their heads to see Kenzi completely enthralled by Claudia's mini-Tesla gun. She flicked the safety on and began to aim at random objects around her, making laser noises as she fired. Claudia laughed and began to explain how the weapon worked, claiming that it was effective enough to drop an elephant if put on the right setting.

"Claudia, I wouldn't tell her that," Trick called from the bar, where he was discussing matters with Pete and Dyson, trying to work out the technicalities of their two groups working together. "The last thing I need is for Kenzi to get drunk and use one of the Fae as a practice dummy."

"Hey!" Kenzi whined, looking miffed.

"You got it Gramps!" Claudia shot the man a cheerful thumbs-up and went back to her conversation.

"Want a drink?" the raven-haired woman asked, looking hopeful.

"Dude, I'm underage."

"And?"

"Don't tempt her, Kenzi," Dyson chided, hearing the conversation from his spot next to the human Secret Service agent. Pete was chomping on one of Lauren's homemade chocolate chip cookies, his expression blissful.

"Oh my god, Dr. Lewis these things are the bomb!" He brushed some errant cookie crumbs off his shirt and reached for another. "I swear I would eat these all day long."

"Back to the matter at hand people!" Trick called for attention and everyone gathered around the bar. "Did you manage to get in touch with the rest of your people?" he asked Myka and Pete.

Myka nodded, pointing to her Farnsworth, "Yeah, Agent Steve Jinks is on his way over from the hotel and Artie's gonna take the next available flight out here. And the rest of your team?"

"As the Ash, Hale is preoccupied with calming the political waters right now and won't be of much use to us. Tamsin on the other hand, while reluctant, assured us that she would be here soon."

"Good. I know we've just met, but it would help us if you told us everything you know about this murder."

Trick nodded and walked over to his collection cabinet, unlocking it and gesturing for everyone to take a look. "What the authorities know is that a young woman was strangled in her own home last night, but what they don't know is that sometime earlier, one of my most powerful "collectibles" went missing."

He pointed to an empty space between a ruby necklace and a jet-black dagger, "If I wasn't so meticulous with the care of my things, I never would have known what the killer took. What they stole was something so strong that I couldn't even control it. They took the Gleipnir."

"Wait, I've heard this story," Myka said recalling a passage she had read in the Warehouse. "Legend says that Gleipnir was a magical chain used to bind the monster wolf called Fenrir. This wolf was so incredibly strong that nothing except the chain could restrain him."

"What the legend didn't tell you was that the magic that the gods imbued in the chain made it unbreakable. But even the gods underestimated the power of the wolf. Gleipnir restrained the wolf, but after Fenrir's demise the gods worked together to break their creation into four separate pieces, recognizing the potential for disaster should the chain ever be reconstructed and fall into the wrong hands."

"And you had one of the pieces," Bo finished. "So I guess we found what the killer is looking for. They want to reconstruct Gleipnir, but what for?"

Trick sighed, "Who knows? All I know about Gleipnir is that two of the pieces made their way into Fae hands, me and someone else. The other two are purportedly under human protection."

Dyson reached into his jacket and pulled out a file from the inside pocket, spreading it out for everyone to see, "If I had to guess then I would say that the Fae that was murdered had some connection to the chain. This killer, whether it be human or Fae is currently one step ahead of us."

"Have the mortal authorities scrubbed the crime scene yet?" Trick asked the werewolf.

"Unfortunately, but I'm fairly confident that we'll be able to pick up some things they weren't able to. What does everyone think? Shall we head to the crime scene?"

Murmuring their agreement, everyone gathered their things and, waving goodbye to Trick, walked outside. "The crime scene is only a few blocks from here."

"Wow, I wonder if the body is still there," Claudia whispered to Kenzi as they fell a few yards behind the rest of the group, "This is so exciting, working on a case like this with other people."

"Tell me about it," Kenzi whispered back, "I mean, I love Bo-bo, the Doc, and Wolf-breath and everything, but I'm really diggin' the idea of having other humans along for the ride."

"How is it being one of the only humans in their world?"

"It's both a blessing and a curse, the way I see it. In a way I feel really honored to be a part of their world, with all of the magic and superpowers and shit, but most of the time their crazy politics drive me up the wall. In their world, humans are little more than pets, or toys to be played with. If Bo hadn't "claimed" me, I'd probably be dead."

Claudia nodded sympathetically and placed her hand on the older girl's shoulder. "Sorry. I kind of get where you're coming from. Hell, I'm not even supposed to be here with Pete, Myka and Helena. I'm not a secret service agent, I'm a nineteen year old girl with a strange quirk that most people would have me committed for. Well, I was committed but that's a whole other story that I won't even—"

"We're here!" Bo narrowed her eyes to squint at the apartment building they arrived at. Much in the style of the entire neighborhood, the complex looked old and worn but she got the impression that people cared for it well enough. The frayed ends of some yellow crime scene tape fastened to the entrance swayed in the wind as their team strode past.

Tramping up a narrow wooden staircase, they stopped at Apartment 4-B. A single officer sat stationed at the door, drinking a coffee and reading the newspaper. The headline declaring the murder stared at them from the front page. Dyson approached him, flashing his badge. "Officer, I'm here to brief these Secret Service Agents on the crime scene."

The man looked skeptical, his gaze running over every single person. He raised his left eyebrow as he came to Claudia, who tried her hardest to look serious and professional. "Why would the Secret Service be here?"

"A routine, international, inter-agency assignment," Dyson said smoothly, not skipping a beat. "My superiors want to assure the U.S. government that we're more than capable of working together."

Tipping his hat, the officer on duty seemed to accept his answer and dutifully moved his chair out of the way. "I'll be outside if you need me, sir."

XXX

**Iris Conner's Apartment**

XXX

Dyson opened the door and ushered everybody into the small, cramped apartment. Claudia sighed with disappointment when she saw that the body had indeed been removed, the only indication of a murder being the white tape that traced a silhouette of the spot where the woman had fallen. The entire place had been trashed.

"Well, let's get to work. Myka, why don't you and Lauren walk around and see if you can find anything suspicious. Remember that the authorities don't know that the victim was Fae, so they may have missed something."

"And us?" Pete pointed to Bo and himself. "Anything for us to search for?"

Dyson shook his head, "Not right now, but I'd like for Claudia and H.G. to go back downstairs and see if there's any electronic footage of the attack. Place like this, there must be security cameras somewhere. Bo, can you and Kenzi accompany them?" The wolf-shifter Fae seemed to be quite comfortable giving orders, seamlessly shifting to his work demeanor.

"Dyson?" Lauren called from the bedroom, "Myka and I may have found something, but we'll need your help to access it!"

Making sure that everyone was at their stations, Dyson jogged over to assist the doctor. "What did you need?"

Myka pointed to a section of the wall, "This room is unusually hot, but when I walked past this section of the wall, I could swear that I felt a breeze or something."

Pete ambled in to see what all the commotion was about, and when he walked by the wall in question, he suddenly stumbled, looking confused.

"A vibe?" Myka asked, catching his fall and steadying her partner.

"I know we're not supposed to touch anything, but I've got a reeeeaalllly strong feeling that there's something important behind this wall."

Dyson nodded, "I'm on it." He inhaled deeply and snarled, his eyes glowing bright gold and his teeth sharpening themselves to a deadly point. Clenching his now clawed fists, he exhaled before taking another deep breath and punching the wall with all of his might.

The wall crumbled away to reveal a tiny cubby that had been carved into the wood itself. Dyson pulled out his flashlight and shone the beam into the makeshift safe. "It's empty, but something was there at some point." He reached inside until the tips of his fingers brushed the back wall of the safe.

"Who wants to bet that our thief somehow found this secret hidey-hole and jacked whatever was originally inside it?" Pete stated.

"Another piece of the Gleipnir?" Lauren wondered.

"I'd say so," Myka nodded to her partner, "Pete must have sensed the residual energy of the Gleipnir piece."

Dyson shifted back into his normal form and ran a hand through his hair, "Then our killer has half of the chain already. I really don't want to know what he's going to be willing to do in order to get the other two pieces."

They all looked somber, the reality of their situation hitting them like a ton of bricks. The killer was halfway done and they were still no closer to finding him. Pete's Farnsworth suddenly buzzed, jolting them out of their reverie.

"Hey guys, it's Kenzi, Claudia, H.G. and Bo. We talked to the night manager and explained the situation and he went to retrieve the tapes. They only keep the last seventy-two hours of footage at a time, so we caught a break there. Looking over this stuff, you wouldn't believe how much shady shit goes on here all the time—"

"Kenz!" Bo chided, "get to the point."

"Oh, right. Well, there was nothing too out of the ordinary the last two days, until you get to the night of the murder. The cameras caught a guy on tape wearing a dark hoodie and looking quite like a criminal. He's got his face concealed so that we can't identify him from that, but he was carrying what looks like a silver bracelet."

"That's gotta be our guy," Myka said. "He was probably carrying the Gleipnir and getting ready to kill the owner of the second piece."

Claudia grabbed the Farnsworth from Kenzi to add, "Yeah, but that's where things got really wonky. This place has two cameras in the lobby, three on every floor and even a few on the back stairwell, covering every possible entrance and exit. We saw this guy once and then -poof!- he's gone.

"So a Fae, possibly?" Lauren interjected.

"Nah, I wouldn't rule out human just yet," Claudia disagreed, "Looking at the model of security camera, it wouldn't take much to disconnect or alter the feed. We'll head back up to where you guys are and show you what we got so far."

"All right, ten-four Claud." Pete waved goodbye and closed the Farnsworth. "So we've got a possible lead on an I.D. for this guy."

"I only hope we can get to him before the son of a bitch finds all four parts," Dyson sighed, frustrated at their perpetrator's apparent skill. "Myka, can you contact your team and tell them to meet us at my precinct instead? We need the opinion of someone who's familiar with all manner of Fae, both Light and Dark."

The brunette nodded and flipped open her own Farnsworth to contact Steve and Artie to update them. "Who are you talking about?"

"I mentioned her earlier. She's a Dark Fae that goes by the name Tamsin. She's a Valkyrie."


	3. Chapter 3

Myka and Bo had struck up a friendly rapport on the walk over to the police station. They got along well and noticed that their two respective groups seemed to mesh well together, despite the rather unconventional way they had met. Bo liked how fast Myka caught onto what she was talking about and how well she was able to explain it to the other members of her group. It made bridging the gap between their groups easier.

It had been decided that H.G. and Lauren would wait outside for Steve and Artie, while the others went inside to find Tamsin, Dyson's partner.

"I wanna know more about your world, Bo. What's a Dark Fae?" Myka asked Bo, re-holstering her Tesla gun after the officer stationed at the entrance gave the weapon a thorough examination. She smiled, remembering the look of utter confusion on his face as he looked over the gun. "Are they the bad guys?"

"No, technically the Dark Fae aren't much different than the Light Fae. As far as I could tell at my initiation trial, the Dark Fae are just less concerned with humanity as a whole. The Dark can be evil bastards and the Light can be total assholes." The officer made to stop the succubus from coming through, noticing the long knife that was strapped rather obviously against her thigh. Without batting an eye, Bo turned her gaze on the guard and ran her hand up and down his shoulder, smiling gently. His eyelids drooped and he waved her through, and Myka could swear that he was almost drooling.

"You know, one of these days you're going to meet a guy that will be able to resist your succu-charm."

A tall woman with long blonde hair and piercing eyes brushed past their group, shooting Bo a distasteful look.

"That's already happened," Kenzi chirped, grabbing her purse from a security guard who had decided her giant bag merited a search. "Remember? There was that one guy you tried to whammy, but he was gay and…" she trailed off, noticing for the first time who was speaking. "Oh, hey Tamsin."

"Kenzi," she nodded curtly. "Who are your friends?" Myka could sense that this Tamsin woman was a lot more than she seemed. Was she one of the Dark Fae that Bo was talking about?

Myka offered her hand and the blonde woman took it, still slightly wary. "Nice to meet you. I'm Myka."

Pete sidled up next to her and she could just picture the wide, slightly dopey smile that was probably plastered on his face. "Hi. I'm Pete." He dug into his front pocket and pulled out his badge, hoping to impress Tamsin. "Agent Pete Lattimer."

"I'm Tamsin," the other woman replied, looking Pete up and down and turning away pointedly, focusing her attention on Myka. Kenzi snickered. Tamsin noticed Dyson walking through security and waved him over. "So what's the big rush? I was on my way to meet you at the scene when I got the call to head here instead."

"There's something big brewing," the wolf-shifter grunted. "And the Secret Service has decided to, ah, help us with this." He gestured for their ever-expanding entourage to gather in one of their private conference rooms.

The walls were soundproof and at a single gesture from Dyson, another officer working the microphones and video cameras hastily left the room, muttering about the need to grab a donut. "Tamsin, these people are okay to talk to. They know about the Fae."

His Dark Fae partner hissed in surprise, "Dyson, they're human. They can't know about us!"

"Whoa, whoa, we're not what we seem either," Claudia held up her hands defensively. "We're who people call when freaky things start to happen."

Tamsin opened her mouth to make a smart retort about the Ghostbusters, but Bo beat her to it. "Ghostbusters!"

"Anyway," Claudia said. "You know about the Gleipnir, right?"

XXX

Merge With Caution

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An old yellow taxi pulled up to the curb of the police station, depositing Steve Jinks out onto the sidewalk in front of the building. He tapped the passenger side window and handed the cabbie his fare, making sure to include a tip. Standing around in front of the revolving doors stood H.G. Wells and an unfamiliar blonde.

"Hey," he greeted, smiling politely at the other woman, who looked at Helena with stars in her eyes. Steve guessed she knew who H.G. really was. "Artie called and said he wouldn't be coming. Didn't give any details but before he hung up I could hear him muttering something about the Warehouse to Leena."

"Which probably means that he's onto something," H.G. finished. "Everyone else is waiting inside already."

"Good. I'll get Artie on the line and have him explain what he's come up with so far." Holding the door open for the two women as they walked inside, Steve wondered what exactly they had gotten into.

They walked through security without too much of a hassle, though Steve's own Tesla gun had been confiscated in the process. Lauren assured him that Dyson would be able to get it back for him. He smiled at this, knowing that she wasn't lying.

Dyson and Bo waved to the trio as they walked into the bullpen, calling them over into the interrogation room. The three of them filed into the now cramped room. H.G. and Steve introduced themselves to Tamsin, who was squashed between Pete and Bo, looking rather surly.

"H.G. Wells, Warehouse agent."

"Steve Jinks. I'm also a Warehouse agent."

"Nice to meet you," Tamsin said sarcastically. "Can I go now? I need to finish writing up that report for the lieutenant."

Steve frowned. She was lying, that much was clear. "No you don't. You're lying." At once, everyone turned to look at him. "I…uh…" he cleared his throat.

Pete jumped in to save his friend's hide, "That's sort of his thing. He can tell when people are lying."

Kenzi beamed, "A human lie detector? Awesome! Okay, I love designer shoes. I think that Bo has a bit of a weapons fetish and that Tamsin is an asshole."

"Hey!" the Valkyrie snapped.

Steve sighed and decided to indulge her. "The last one is a lie." Her eyes widened and she grinned at Tamsin, who casually flipped her off. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"

As if it was a sign from above, his Farnsworth chose that exact moment to start buzzing, announcing a call.

Steve pulled out his Farnsworth and flipped it open. "Hey, Artie, what's up?" Everyone gathered around behind him to look at the grainy black-and-white image of the Warehouse's chief agent. "Did you find anything?"

"I found a piece of Gleipnir," Artie said, looking pleased with himself. "And we got majorly lucky with this one this time. It's right here in the Warehouse!"

"We have a piece of Gleipnir at the Warehouse?" Steve looked at Artie curiously, trying to balance the Farnsworth with his free hand so that everybody could gather around to look. Though, now that he thought about it, the Warehouse seemed like the perfect place to put a magical chain.

"Yeah, _someone_ mislabeled it," Artie cleared his throat and pointed at Claudia.

"Maybe if my boss wasn't so mean and kept me working until three a.m. doing inventory, I wouldn't be making mistakes like that," the young brunette retorted, though she gazed sheepishly at the floor. "My bad, Artie."

Artie waved his hand dismissively and said, "Your occasional incompetence can be overlooked. What's important is that we are in possession of one of the pieces. I need everyone to come back to the Warehouse immediately so we can put together a plan for keeping it safe."

Steve nodded in understanding and was about to reach for the power button when Bo butted in, grabbing the Farnsworth from him. "Yeah, hi. What about us? Are you just gonna recall your people and leave the rest of us floundering?"

"Surprisingly, no. Mrs. Frederick stopped by just after I found the third part of Gleipnir and told me to bring back everybody, including your new friends. Whoever you guys are, you have someone very important speaking on your behalf. So pack up your things and head back to Univille as soon as possible. I want to catch whoever is doing this before they strike again."

XXX

"Wow." Dyson said simply, shielding his eyes from the blazing sun and staring at the Warehouse. "Now I can see why you guys put the Warehouse here. It's completely empty out here."

It was the most magnificent thing he'd ever seen, and he'd seen plenty over the centuries.

"Leena!" Pete shouted into the speaker that been placed outside the warehouse on a little silver stand. Both Myka and Steve had asked Claudia to wire up an outside speaker so they could ask to be let in at any moment's notice. Pete asked her so that he wouldn't have to find his keys every time he wanted in. "Helllloooo! Anyone home?"

"I _can _hear you, Pete, you realize that, right?" Leena's smooth voice drifted from the speaker, chastising her friend. "The door is open already and Artie's waiting for you inside. He's narrowing down the location of the piece of Gleipnir as we speak."

The ground underneath everyone's feet began to vibrate as the Warehouse's front door opened, the multiple security systems simultaneously scanning for threats and granting access to the group. Everyone filed inside, displaying various levels of awe as the door closed behind them. Bo almost immediately pointed out the bombs disguised as support columns. Pete gently steered her away from them and pushed open the heavy metal door that led to the communications hub and upper deck of the Warehouse.

XXX

As he walked in, Dyson grunted in surprise as a giant mass of fur slammed into him full-force, sending him toppling to the ground. He snarled instinctively at the thing that was now settled on his chest, head tilted inquisitively at the wolf-shifter. Trailer leaned over and sniffed Dyson and, apparently judging him trustworthy, licked his nose.

"I am so sorry!" Leena apologized quickly, rushing over and tugging on Trailer's leather collar, dragging the dog off Dyson. "He's usually not this…well, reactive around strangers. You must be a dog lover."

Kenzi snorted, "Something like that." Bo elbowed her in the ribs.

"No worries," Dyson stood back up, brushing a few errant dog hairs off his clothes and smiling reassuringly at Leena. She smiled back shyly. "Dogs seem to like me a lot."

They stared at each other for a few moments until Artie cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, sorry, Artie. You were saying?" Leena gestured for him to continue his little speech.

"Yes. If you'll all follow me out onto our observation deck here. Watch your step, it's a little dark in here right now." Artie herded the group of newcomers out onto the deck and fumbled around for the main power grid. He waited until they were centered in the perfect spot before getting their attention.

"Welcome to Warehouse 13," Artie said proudly, flicking the main power switch. He watched the newcomers as they reacted to seeing the full might of the Warehouse. This never got old. Maybe he should buy one of those throwaway cameras and make a photo album filled with first reactions.

"And cue the epic music," Lauren said in a daze.

"Ooh, hang on one sec," Claudia raced back into the communications hub. A second later, a loud chorus of swelling music filled the room, emanating from the countless speakers placed throughout the aisles of the Warehouse. Artie sighed and massaged his temples. He'd been outdone by Claudia yet again.

**Next time on Merge With Caution**

"**Shit!" Kenzi managed to duck her head just in time, and the blast of electrical energy sailed over her, hitting the shelving behind her. Somehow, their perp had managed to get his hands on one of Claudia's many Tesla guns and it was only Kenzi's quick reflexes that kept her from getting fried. **

"**Kenz, you okay?" Dyson called as he ran up to her. She nodded, standing shakily back up. That son of a bitch. How had he managed to sneak up on her? It's not as if he could turn invisible or suddenly gain the power to walk through walls. Kenzi's borrowed Farnsworth trilled and she pulled it out of her back pocket, still catching her breath. **

"**Hey Kenzi, be especially careful around this guy, whoever he is, he's gotten ahold of one of the Warehouse's artifacts." Three aisles away, Bo carefully approached the shelf where the thief had snagged something. She knew it couldn't be good. A tiny touchscreen flashed red and announced in a loud tinny voice that an artifact had been disturbed. Annoyed by this, Bo touched it to turn it off and caught a glimpse at the artifact's tag. "I was chasing him down one of the aisles and saw him take off with something. The tag says that it's a magical cloak that allows the wearer to walk through walls."**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome back to another chapter of Merge with Caution! A thank you to everyone who has favorite and followed this so far, I am grateful to you. Kind of a shorter chapter this time, so don't get too mad at me. Enjoy. -Drachesoul**

"This place is incredible!" Tamsin said, despite her earlier misgivings. Neither the Dark Fae or Light Fae had a collection this impressive. Row after row of tall metal shelves stocked with various artifacts stretched as far as she could see. She even caught glimpses of a few familiar things. "Huh, so that's where the Morrigan's ring went. Vex won't be happy, he took quite the beating from her for losing it in the first place."

Claudia and H.G. had taken Dyson and Bo with them to educate them on a weird purple goo that apparently kept this entire place running. Leena had immediately taken to Lauren and had asked that she stay behind to look at the Warehouse security and inventory software. Which left her and Kenzi to take a tour of the Warehouse itself.

"All of these artifacts are here for a reason," Artie explained, straightening the shelves as he walked by. "They are all extremely powerful in one way or another, which means that people of all walks of life are attracted to them. But they all have downsides."

Tamsin squinted at a tiny touchscreen next to a silver bell. "You mean even this one? Pavlov's dog bell?" It looked completely innocuous, sitting there on a red velvet cushion. "Attracts dogs. Hey, I wonder if ringing this will call Dyson," she joked to Kenzi, who made to pick it up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Artie called as Kenzi's fingers nearly brushed the handle of the bell. "Read the downside."

" Where?"

Artie told her to tap the screen and she did so, the display shifting to a different page. "Excessive drooling for 24 hours? Ew. Not worth it, even to torment—I mean summon—the Wolf-man."

"Why are all these things here though? If they're as powerful as you say, why not use them to further your own ends?"

Artie sighed, grabbed the two of them by the arms and shuffled them off to a secluded section of the warehouse. "Because, you'll end up in here."

"The bronze section?"

XXX

Merge With Caution

XXX

"Your systems are so efficient," Lauren said as she ran her hands over the central terminal. "And probably illegal judging on the shortcuts I'm seeing on the desktop. Is that CCTV from Canada?"

Leena nodded and pulled up the feed from one of the cameras, which was conveniently nestled in a tree just a few feet from one of the buildings on Parliament Hill, in Ottowa. "We have eyes everywhere, mostly to help aid us when we search for possible pings."

"Forgive me if this sounds a bit rude, but isn't that still illegal?"

"No, you're right to ask. The Warehouse kind of operates beyond any one government's control, due to our line of work. Most of them don't know about this stuff though, so we'd appreciate it if it never got out."

"My lips are sealed. Hey Leena, what's that flashing light there?" Leena's eyes narrowed and she gently nudged Lauren out of the way, and with a few quick keystrokes had pulled up the source.

"Oh no. we need to contact everyone right now. The FISH has picked up some sort of disturbance in the area surrounding the Warehouse. Of course, it could turn out to be nothing, but I'd rather not take that chance right now. Lauren, could you hand me that?"

Lauren turned her head to see where Leena was pointing and retrieved a small metal device from underneath a sheaf of papers. "What this? What is it?" She handed it over, looking perplexed.

"That is a Farnsworth. Everyone here uses them to communicate. They may look old-fashioned, but they're completely secure because they don't run off the same technology that phones today use." Leena flipped open the lid to call the rest of the agents, quickly explaining the situation they were in. She rung Artie last, who picked up the line and held it far enough away from his face so Tamsin and Kenzi could look.

"Artie? Our outside sensors caught something. I don't know what it is, but we need to put the chain somewhere safe right now."

"All right, the three of us will hide the chain, and I want everybody else armed with Teslas and Farnsworths, patrolling the aisles until the threat passes. Understood?" he said, turning off the Farnsworth without even saying goodbye.

Leena sighed and stood up, gesturing for Lauren to follow. "Artie wants everyone armed in case someone is coming to take the Gleipnir chain. Follow me, we're headed to the Farnsworth aisle to grab some things."

XXX

Bo and Myka rounded the corner of the Canned Food Aisle, Teslas drawn. They proceeded slowly down the hall, pausing only to check the odd nook and cranny for any signs of an intruder. "The original can of worms?" Bo looked amazed as she lowered her borrowed Tesla to inspect the tag. "Cool."

"Bo, we kind of have a possible intruder on his way to steal the third piece of the Gleipnir…could we do this another time, please?"

"Sorry," she replied, "I just can't believe half the things you guys store in here. Really?" She turned to face Myka, pointing at one of the artifacts on the shelf. "Red Herring?"

"I know, I spent my first few months here just looking around the place with Pete. There are some pretty awesome things here." Myka pulled out her Farnsworth to report back to Leena and Lauren. "All's clear in the Canned Food Aisle."

Leena thanked her for the update and relayed that Pete and Dyson had cleared the Ovoid Quarantine and the Noel Aisle. "I'm still waiting to hear from Steve and Tamsin over by the Dark Vault, and from Claudia and Kenzi near the Dark Vault and Ferret Kennel but things seem to be okay so far. The signal has been coming in clearer from the security systems so he's almost here."

"Okay, thanks Leena." Myka shot Bo a confident smile. "How good is your aim?"

Bo returned the smile and turned the dial on the Tesla up to 9, "Pretty damn good if I say so myself. I got your back."

A loud scream carried across the Warehouse, a cry full of fear that set the hairs on Bo's neck rising. "Myka? That sounded like Kenzi."

The two women took off running full-force towards the source of the scream, hoping against all hope that they weren't too late.

XXX

"Shit!" Kenzi managed to duck her head just in time, and the blast of electrical energy sailed over her, hitting the shelving behind her. Somehow, their perp had managed to get his hands on one of Claudia's many Tesla guns and it was only Kenzi's quick reflexes that kept her from getting fried.

"Kenz, you okay?" Dyson called as he ran up to her. She nodded, standing shakily back up. That son of a bitch. How had he managed to sneak up on her? It's not as if he could turn invisible or suddenly gain the power to walk through walls. Kenzi's borrowed Farnsworth trilled and she pulled it out of her back pocket, still catching her breath.

"Hey Kenzi, be especially careful around this guy, whoever he is, he's gotten ahold of one of the Warehouse's artifacts." Three aisles away, Bo carefully approached the shelf where the thief had snagged something. She knew it couldn't be good. A tiny touchscreen flashed red and announced in a loud tinny voice that an artifact had been disturbed. Annoyed by this, Bo touched it to turn it off and caught a glimpse at the artifact's tag. "I was chasing him down one of the aisles and saw him take off with something. The tag says that it's a magical cloak that allows the wearer to walk through walls."

Kenzi sighed, turned around and stared at a blank patch of wall directly behind her. Damn. "Yeah I got that now. It looks like he's headed directly for the chain, as we thought. Is it safe?"

"Well, it's a tiny silver chain hidden somewhere in a huge warehouse full of magical and dangerous artifacts." Intrigued, Bo shifted her attention to the next closest artifact. "Huh. Did you know that they have the knife that Geronimo used in his first raid as a war chief?"

"They also have the original Emancipation Proclamation, I saw it a few aisles down. Abraham Lincoln had really bad handwriting, but that's not the point, Bo. If this asshole got ahold of a magical cloak without any difficulty, what's stopping him from swiping other things?"

A pause from Bo. "Huh. Good point. I'll tell Tamsin and Dyson to keep a lookout while they search. Can you ring Lauren and Leena in the communications hub and ask them to keep an eye out for any more disturbances?"

"Roger that, Bo-bo."

XXX

Meanwhile, up in the main office area, Lauren was hovering over Leena's left shoulder as the latter showed her the basics of their artifact detection system.

"You guys seriously have Typhoid Mary's knife?" Lauren's eyes shone with excitement. She couldn't believe all of the things they had stored away in the warehouse. First she had met H.G. Wells, which she was still geeking out over, believe it or not, and now she had the honor of learning about the warehouse. There were so many historic and valuable things in here.

Leena nodded, and pulled up a floorplan of the warehouse, "This place is so huge that Claudia is constantly going through our inventory, trying to update our systems. It's a work in progress." A red light began to blink in the corner of the computer. "Hm. It's a message from one of the guys."

"Calling Leena and Lauren. You guys hear me?" A grainy image of Kenzi materialized on their screen. She looked tired, but flashed them a smile all the same. "Our freak got ahold of one of the artifacts and we think he's headed straight for the Gleipnir."

"Damn," Leena swore under her breath, quickly pulling up a tiny window on the main computer. Lauren got the distinct impression that she didn't swear often, so whatever their mystery thief had gotten ahold of, it couldn't be good. "Hey, Kenzi? I got it. We're also getting disturbance reports from a few other aisles as well. He's building a small arsenal of artifacts and from what I can tell so far, many of them aren't meant to be in close proximity to each other, if you catch my drift."

Lauren whistled through her teeth, "With all of those artifacts in one place, the energy they're giving off must be enormous. What'll happen if that energy reaches a critical mass?"

"Boom."

**Next time on Merge with Caution:**

**Bo limped into the room, leaning heavily on her girlfriend and clutching her wounded side. Claudia and the others quickly made room for her. "Well that sucked."**

"**Tell me about it," Kenzi agreed. "I cannot believe that that asshole got away **_**again!"**_

"**Not all is lost," H.G. said soothingly. "There's still one piece left of the chain to find."**

**Claudia snapped her fingers, "And we dealt him a pretty major blow today. He'll need at least some time to recover from everything and we can get a head start on him." **

**Artie turned to look at the succubus, "Will you be okay?"**

"**Oh yeah, I'll just need some…alone time with Lauren to heal." She planted a chaste kiss to her girlfriend's lips and grinned widely. Lauren punched her uninjured shoulder lightly and they rose together, hand in hand. "Can you guys like, wait thirty or forty minutes before heading back to Leena's?"**

**Everyone nodded and Trailer barked in agreement, averting their eyes respectfully as the two of them left through the umbilicus. **

**Pete paused, "Why do I get the feeling they're asking us for alone time to have sex?" **


End file.
